Sandhill Crane

Grus canadensis

Status: Secure

The Sandhill Crane has a long neck and long legs with an overall gray color, sometimes with brownish tones. This species of crane has reddish skin on the top of its head. Some may confuse this crane with a heron but they are not related. When flying, herons keep their necks tucked in their back while cranes fly with their neck stretched out.

Grus_canadensis
Sandhill Cranes

Habitat & Range

The sandhill crane has been found in many parts of North America and their habitats vary with each region they are found in. They mostly inhabit freshwater marshes and open grasslands. 

Food Web & Energy Flow

The sandhill cranes diet consists of insects, plants, small rodents, lizards, snakes, and much more. Their diverse diet of both plants and animals makes them omnivores, just like most humans. Depending on what is available in their region will determine what they eat. This makes the sandhill cranes secondary consumers.

Relationship to Fire

Since most of their food they consume depends on a healthy forest floor, frequent fires are important to them. The fires can help clear space on the forest floor which can provide more sunlight to the plants and more nutrients to the soil. Even the small animals they eat rely on plants for shelter and also for food.

prescribed burn

Conservation Status

Although the sandhill cranes are considered Secure, they are dealing with habitat destruction and land use in many regions in North America. Human impact is slowly causing a decline in their overall population.

State Level Conservation Status - Nature Serve
State Level Conservation Status - Nature Serve

Human Impacts/ Threats

development
Land Use Conversion

Longleaf forests and the habitat it supports is being cleared or converted to use the land for other uses like houses, roads, agriculture, and even to grow different types of trees to sell.

smokeybear
Fire Suppression

Many people think of fires in the forest as bad, so they work hard to prevent or suppress them. But longleaf forests NEED regular fire to support habitat for the species that live there!

Resources

Audubon. Sandhill Crane

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. Wildlife Habitats 

Montana Field Guide. Sandhill Crane

Hero Journal

If this is the species you're going to focus on, describe it in your journal.

  • What does it look like?
  • What does it need to survive?

Try sketching the species you chose, using scientific drawing techniques.

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